Electric truck charging at your plant

A charging yard can draw as much as a production building

DC fast charging

A semi-truck that has to head out again in a few hours needs DC charging, in what Agreement A/108/2024 (Acuerdo A/108/2024) classifies as mode 4. This is high-power equipment fed from a dedicated transformer or from the plant's substation.

The sum that changes the project's scale

Four 350 kW chargers add up to 1.4 MW if they run at the same time (illustrative example). For many plants that is a large share of their contracted demand, and it forces a review of the medium-voltage service before buying a single charger.

The real project starts at the point of connection

If the available capacity falls short, truck charging means a load increase or a new connection. Agreement A/108/2024, issued by the then CRE (DOF September 10, 2024), refers the connection of charging infrastructure to the load-center regulatory manual (Manual Regulatorio de Centros de Carga) of the Grid Code (Código de Red): below 69 kV it is handled with the Supplier or the Distributor and from 69 kV with CENACE. It is advisable to confirm the current process with the CNE.

Inside the fence line the scope is a substation: medium-voltage switchgear, a dedicated or upgraded transformer, panels, protection coordination, grounding and raceways to each charger. Each charging circuit is protected under article 625 of NOM-001-SEDE-2012, with overcurrent protection for continuous duty of no less than 125 % of the equipment's maximum load and a lockable disconnecting means.

High-power chargers are power electronics. Like any load of that type, it is worth reviewing their effect on the plant's power quality and on Grid Code compliance before connecting them.

When the grid falls short, the battery shaves the charging peak

A battery bank charges slowly from the grid, or from on-site solar generation, and delivers the high power during the truck's charging session. That way the point of connection sees a smaller peak. It is an alternative to expanding the substation, or a way to wait for the load increase without stopping yard operations.

How it is decided

Three scenarios are compared with numbers: expand the substation, install a battery, or limit power through load management and accept longer sessions. The answer depends on your measured load curve and your yard operations, not on a preference for a technology.

What clients ask before hiring us

Can I connect the chargers to the substation I already have?

Sometimes, yes. It depends on the transformer's margin during the hours the trucks will charge and on the capacity of the existing switchgear and protection. That is measured before deciding.

How long does the load increase take?

It depends on the area and on the capacity available on the grid. That is why feasibility comes first: if the timeline does not fit your fleet schedule, a battery or load management can cover the interim period.

Does it make sense to add solar to charge trucks?

Only if the charging schedule matches generation or if there is a battery to store the energy. It is evaluated with the yard's actual operations.

Do you sell the trucks?

No. We do the electrical engineering, the substation, the charging infrastructure and its operation.

If your operation does not require it, do not buy fast charging

We tell you at the first meeting

If your trucks spend the night in the yard and have hours to spare for charging, high-power DC fast charging may be unnecessary. Lower-power chargers and load management ask much less of the substation.

If the yard is not yours or your lease does not allow you to expand the substation, resolve that before the electrical project. The medium-voltage investment stays with the property.

And if the number of electric trucks is not decided yet, do not size the substation for an imaginary fleet. The raceways can be left ready and you can grow in stages.

Interested in a truck charging project?

In a short meeting we review your bill with you, on screen, and tell you what is worth measuring.